"You know ahh.. I went to Turkey, the Muslims there have so much freedom to practice their religion," said my Chinese friend who is an avid traveller.
"Oh? What do you mean?" I asked her quietly, smiling meaningfully as I waited for her to explain.
"Only a few Muslim women wear the tudung there.. the rest don't wear tudung. And my tour guide is so cute; she doesn't pray 5 times a day. She told me she prays whenever she thinks suitable," my friend laughed.
"Oh.. I see. Well, Turkey is a secular country."
"No, no.. Turkey is a Muslim country, right? And the Indonesians are so liberal la.. they don't behave or think like what the Malaysian Muslims here do. They are free to live as they like and wear as they like. Not like we see here, the girls are forced to wear the tudung even when they don't like it. Here, we see Muslims instructing other Muslims to live their way."
"Actually, the wearing of tudung and to pray 5 times a day is stated very clearly in the al-Quran. Those who don't follow are the ones who have problems," I tried to explain to her.
I paused and added, "But you know right, the Muslims in Turki can't wear tudung into the schools and universities even when they want to? You do know that in Turkey, women are banned from wearing tudung in government institutions?"
Her face changed. She froze. "No.. I didn't know that? Really ah?"
I nodded."Yes, Muslim women in Turkey are banned from wearing tudung in schools and universities. That's why you see only a few women in tudung when you're there. Those who wear tudung will not be allowed to enter the schools and public universities. I suppose you tour guide didn't tell you that?"
Sometimes I wonder how other people regard me. There I was, a Muslim all clad in tudung, baju kurung and covered from head to toe except my face and palms of my hands (more covered than some Malay ladies sitting beside us), and this Chinese friend was saying things about my religion as if I were not one of its faithful followers :P. Perhaps the fact that I speak their language (Chinese) and still think like one of them, makes them forget at times that I take Islam seriously, only that I don't force the religion down their throats.
She looked at me seriously and said, "Then that shows that the Muslims can never be united. They can't even decide when to wear tudung and when not to. They share one religion but they have so many different interpretations. In Turkey they interpret it one way, in Indonesia another way and here in Malaysia, we see a more extreme version of Islam. "
kalu malaysia ni dah extremist..kalu bawak gi Afghanistan..mau terkejut kawan kak alia tuh tengok perempuan pkai burqa..hehe
ReplyDeleteMalaysian Muslims? Extremists? I don't think so! So many Muslims here don't even practise Islam correctly. Huhu...
ReplyDeleteYes, your friend is sure to get the shock of her lifetime if she were to see a Muslim woman in a burqa.
Your friend needs to be more open-minded and not us Muslims. In fact, Malaysia is also a secular government.
But I have to agree with your friend that Muslims all over the world are not united. This is because we don't follow the Al-Quran and As-Sunnah correctly.
It is about time we go back to basics and relearn the Al-Quran and As-Sunnah...
Its the same with Christianity right? They are not suppose to have any sort of sexual relationship before the marriage vows is exchange, yet so many are doing so nowadays..some sticks to what the Bible said. It is case to case basis, not related to religion..just ask your friend does she thinks all Buddhist live the same way? I don't think so :)
ReplyDeleteAssalamualaikum
ReplyDeleteyou got your point right kak aliya. let them unconfused between the true Islam and ethnically as nationally Muslims.
its amazed me that how much those non muslim in mesia loved to intervaned and try to deternimed our life style and the way we should practice our religion. sometime it happened that they try to forced us to submit to their values. just like Hudud issue, or like bar council's memeluk Islam forum. just main your own business lor.. we never try to interfere in your religion what so ever.
they never learned about Islam but blantantly shouting and barking like my neighbor's mad dogs. well if their really learned something about Islam, then they got it half baked or wrong perception about Islam. i remember batu gajah mp (DAP), which grad from uia say something sour about Islam and claimed she know Islam better than her own religion. she also claimed that she is well conversed in arabic. what a dork. you can't leard arabic by just attending university 6 or 7 years. it takes a lifetime to learn arabic, it takes a lifetime to learn Islam.
it is a crime for us to obey Allah' wills, The Sustainer The Cherisher?
Wasalam
kalau msian muslim ni extremist..suruh kawan akak pergi saudi.perempuan sana kerja pun tak boleh.drive laaaaaaagi lah tak boleh. :)
ReplyDeleteislam tu unik dan cantik.tapi orang banyak salah faham dan salah guna.
Assalamualaikum wbt.
ReplyDeleteI think non Muslims are being confused by Muslims themselves. About DAP MP who graduated from IIUM. I know bout that, and I can say that she knows Islam better than certain Muslims. Why? Because she can accept that we cannot shake hand with other gender, we cannot get involved in close proximity (khalwat), boys and girls should not sit together in cafe etc. It seems she knows better, and for her, all those things are not a problem. She knows that when she entered a muslim's office, she should let the door open to avoid mak'siat. And she had written how a muslim politician tried to shake hand with her, and she said Islam does not allow that.
Hidayah is in the hand of Allah. It is our responsibility to show the real Islam. What is the real Islam. It is what have been stated in al-Quran and as-Sunnah like had been understood by companions. How many of us return to these two sources when anything related to Islam.
Assalamualaikum
ReplyDeletemy brother abu usamah,
i agreed some of your point and disagreed with others.
just by not shaking hands, left doors open to avoid khalwat, doesn't maen that you're well versed about Islam. almost all Muslim know that. the argument is rather they follow the teaching or not. if you asked those who are not donned hijab they surely say its a sin to expossed their Aurah. i remember one ulama (forgot his name) of our glorious past has said that if someone claimed that he know Islam yet he still says something bad about it he in reality still a wretched fool. that is why abu jahal is called abu jahal - the ignorant. he saw the truth but he refuse to acknowledge.
don't let yourself being decieved by pleasant gesture of those kuffar. you know those non muslim love to teach us a lesson and always try to 'memadankan muka kita'. try to differentiate between sincerity to follow Islamic teaching based on Iman, and to gain political leverage. i don't trust her like the same way i don't trust penang chief minister want to follow Khalifah Umar Abd Aziz. my scepticism tells me that it will not succeed.
don't tell me by being iium graduate makes you well versed in Islam. i know iium very much like i know the back of my hand. iium, in many cases, somehow appear the spawning of secularism. i promise to tell you about it later. i give you the iium insight view in my blog of Insya Allah.
and yes Hidayah in is solely in the hand of Allah. all you can do is to ask Him for Hidayah, the same way you seek His forgiveness.
much to be say, less space given
p/s forgive me kak aliya for talk so much in your blog. its bad habit dies hard, i have an attitude of being argumentative and strong on my opinion. that's why for the longest time i avoided myself commenting on your blog
Wasalam
Assalamualaikum Nazri and Adawiyah,
ReplyDeleteWell,maybe yes, maybe not. Most people rely on the media to get information about Islam and other religions, as even close friends of other faiths don't always explain about their own religions, do they? Unless you take the trouble to ask them.
Knitfreak-to-be,
ReplyDeleteYes, you're right.Some people of religions other than Islam don't really know what their own teaches. For them, Islam is easy to find fault with because in M'sia, we teach it in schools, we live a Muslim life every day of our lives, and observed by others. Soemtimes I like to do a reverse psychology by asking the cynics whetehr they can tell me what their own religion teach about the same topic..and some can't even answer, too bad..
Assalamualaikum
ReplyDeleteright, easily available to get Islamic literature, but mots wrongly potrail of Islam.
loved the way you kak Aliya answer your friend, consider it a slap on her face. me myself meet a lot of people like this
kak Aliya, lei ho yeah :-)
wasalam
eh hello, di malaysia ni mana ada extreme? sambil lewa je org skrg ni menguruskan agama masing2. kalau mcm tu dikira extremists, mmg tak boleh hidup kt palestine mereka ni~
ReplyDeleteDon't forget I m still studying in IIUM now.
ReplyDeleteYup she doesnt' know all about islam, but she knows some she just said she knows Islam better than she knows her own faith. Anything wrong with her statement?
And don't forget there are some muslims who cannot accept that we cannot mix freely with other gender, cannot touch other gender etc. We have to accept it.
So what's wrong if she said she knows Islam more than what she knows about her own faith?
I don't want to prolong talking about her.
Misundestanding about Islam. Why they misunderstand? Maybe they purposely make themselves misunderstand and some them really misunderstand. And worse, some of us cause them to misunderstand. Some of us fighting very hard against Islamic ruling, fighting very hard to say that Islam accepts other religion as equal to Islam.
Assalamualaikum
ReplyDeletedear brother abu usamah
yeah i can see. typical iium mindset. well, to me she just exegerating when she claim her knowledge about Islam. remember my brother, the more knowledgeable and learned someone be, the more humble they will be. the more you learn about Islam,
the more you feel how ignorant youself be. maybe for her nothing wrong. but from Islamic point of view, and me as a Muslim, we scale a person by khusyu' taqwa, iman, wara'. not mere ignorantly claim herself knowledgeable. sometime, what is in your heart can be reflected by your action.
right, that's it. enough about her. i just let everybody know that i don't have anything good to say about her.
kak Aliya was right about things such as its not non muslim business to concern about Islam. they simply has no right to do so. furthermore, they all 'Aduwwun lilLah - the enemy of Allah. she also right about her view upon politicians. may Allah bless and always protect you kak Aliya.
dear brother, the last part of your comment really brilliant. i agreed with you.
by the way, since you're studiying at iium, then i'm your senior, almost contemporary of that batu gajah mp. and same kulliyyah also.
Wasalam
Wah...betul-betul panas nih. Banyak yang boleh di buat pedoman ni.
ReplyDeleteI went to Turkey last winter.
ReplyDeleteIt is a beautiful country with really friendly people.
Islam di Istanbul masih dipraktikkan. Azan sahut menyahut, masih ada orang bersolat jemaah. Wanita berjubah dan bertudung di mana-mana. Pemilik hotel saya tinggal tahu di mana arah kiblat.
Apa yang tercatat di dalam Quran itu jelas. Bukankah yang jelas itu lebih mudah?